UPDATE: New Scott ad bashes Sink over ‘Debate-gate’

“The ad’s a fraud. Rick Scott is a fraud. All of his attack ads in this campaign have been judged to be false,” McLaughlin said. “If it wasn’t this debate flap it would be something else because he makes these up. They are fabrications just like his entire Medicare fraud scheme was against the government and the taxpayers.”

The ad begins with a clip of Sink featured in one of her own TV ads saying: “And if someone lies or cheats, I hold them accountable.”

“Cheating. Roll the tape,” a voiceover says then launches into a series of television news clips discussing Sink’s breach.

Scott, who dropped another $1.5 million into his campaign this week, began running the ad statewide today, just five days before Tuesday’s election.

Sink set off a firestorm after apparently reading a cell phone message during a commercial break at the debate Monday night. Scott went after her during the debate for breaking the rules, and Sink quickly fired her campaign aide who sent it. Both candidates had agreed not to have any communications with their staff during the hour-long face-off.

CNN later reported that an examination of the audio showed that Sink was told by the hairdresser who handed her a cell phone that the message was from staff before Sink read it. Sink’s campaign did their own audio analysis that found CNN’s conclusions were wrong.

The release of the statewide ad Thursday came as a surprise.

Scott, on the third day of a week-long sweep of the state, has said repeatedly that his campaign had already purchased all of its television air time and did not intend to ad any new advertisements and has instead been releasing web-based ads as well as radio.